CEDAR CITY, Utah - April 2 - Southern Utah baseball had a 9-3 lead going into the bottom of the ninth inning and survived a final-inning rally by North Dakota State to post a 9-6 conference-opening victory on Friday afternoon.  The win improves the Thunderbirds to 11-13 on the year and 1-0 in Summit League play, while the Bison drop to 6-12 on the year and 0-1 in conference.

North Dakota State struck first with a lead-off triple in the opening inning, generating the first run on the game two batters later.  However, Southern Utah answered with two runs in the home half of the frame to take a 2-1 lead.

Ray Wright began the inning with a lead-off single and then advanced to second on a passed ball.  Keli'i Zablan's single during the next at bat scored Wright from second as the T-Birds tied the game.  Nick Freitas' single later in the inning turned into the second run of the game as the senior crossed home plate on a wild pitch by NDSU starter McHale Maristuen.

Southern Utah's most productive inning came in the bottom of the third as Justin Neuhart's two-run double in the frame was bookended by an RBI by Levi Swenson as he was hit by a pitch and an RBI ground ball from Colby Ford as the T-Birds scored four in the frame.

The Bison were only able to score three runs on SUU starter Kyle Melling over the course of eight innings, recording the run in the first and one run in the fifth and eighth.  Melling threw eight complete innings while allowing three runs on eight hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

The Thunderbirds used three more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, headlined by a thee-run home run by Freitas, to take a 9-3 lead into the final inning.  Jacob Noyes, The Summit League leader in saves this year, came on to close out the game in the ninth and was off to a strong start after striking out the first batter.  However, the senior then allowed two walks, a single and hit a batter over the next four at bats and was replaced by Zablan after just one out.

Zablan allowed a single and hit another batter before finally inducing a ground ball that generated the game-ending 4-6-3 double play for his second save of the season.  Maristuen took the loss for the Bison after allowing six runs (five earned) on seven hits and two walks with one strikeout over three innings.

The two teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader tomorrow at Thunderbird Park, but inclement weather may force the games to be played in St. George.  The first pitch for game one is tentatively planned for Noon.